UGANDA 2012 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Uganda is a constitutional republic led since 1986 by President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Voters reelected Museveni to a fourth five-year term in February 2011. While the election marked an improvement over previous elections, it was marred by irregularities. State security forces (SSF) generally reported to civilian authorities. The three most serious human rights problems in the country were a lack of respect for the integrity of the person (including unlawful killings, torture, and other abuse of suspects and detainees); unwarranted restrictions on civil liberties (including freedom of assembly, the media, and association); and violence and discrimination against marginalized groups such as women (including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), children (including victims of sexual abuse and ritual killing), persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Other human rights problems included harsh prison conditions; arbitrary and politically motivated arrest and detention; incommunicado and lengthy pretrial detention; restrictions on the right to a fair trial; restrictions on freedom of press; electoral irregularities; official corruption; mob violence; trafficking in persons; and forced labor, including child labor. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), driven out of the country in 2006, continued to hold children forcibly abducted from the country. The governments of Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continued military actions against the LRA. The SSF and other government agents committed human rights abuses, generally with impunity. The government took minimal steps to hold perpetrators accountable. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life UGANDA 2 There were several reports the government committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. In contrast to the previous year, the SSF did not kill opposition party demonstrators. The SSF’s use of excessive force and live ammunition during joint security operations in various districts, including Kampala, Bugiri, Amolatar, and Jinja, resulted in at least 13 deaths, according to media reports. On January 22, police in Kampala arrested George Agaba, Kampala City Council Authority director for physical planning, and his bodyguard, Police Constable Santos Makmot Komakech, for killing John Onyango during an eviction in the city suburb of Luzira. Komakech allegedly fired his gun to disperse an angry crowd, resulting in Onyango’s death. Authorities charged Agaba and Komakech with murder but later released them on bail, and their trial was pending at year’s end. On March 2, police in Masaka District dismissed from duty and arrested Assistant Inspector of Police Apollo Bamwesige, officer in charge of Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Enock Bategyerize, Sergeant Joseph Migadde, Corporal Anatoli Andudia, and Police Constable Peter Bagonza over the alleged killing of a suspect. On February 12, the officers reportedly arrested motorcycle driver Swaibu Ssemaganda on robbery charges and beat him into a coma. Ssemaganda died in a hospital on February 14. The murder case against the police officers was pending court hearing at year’s end. On May 14, authorities in Bugiri District arrested police officers Raymond Mallinga and Walter Wandera for killing Fred Jingo along the Bugiri-Tororo Road the previous day. The two officers reportedly fired at a passenger vehicle after the driver failed to stop. Authorities charged Mallinga and Wandera with murder, and they were in custody pending a court hearing at year’s end. Excessive force and the indiscriminate use of live ammunition by the SSF, which includes the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), resulted in deaths during disarmament operations and cattle recovery in the Karamoja region in the east. For example, on May 15, security operatives trying to recover stolen cattle in Katakwi District killed a suspected Karamojong cattle rustler. Authorities took no action against the security operatives. There were no further developments in the following 2011 arbitrary killings: the April killing of a two-year-old girl by reserve police officer Paul Mugenyi and the April killing of a 16-year-old girl in Kabale by James Babaranda. The trial hearing Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor UGANDA 3 of Mugenyi was pending at the military court in Kampala at year’s end. Babaranda remained in custody pending hearing of his case. b. Disappearance There were unconfirmed reports of politically motivated disappearances. For example, on October 15, the opposition Democratic Party (DP) publicity secretary reported that he had received complaints from family members that party activist Rogers Segujja had disappeared. Family members suspected security operatives might have kidnapped Segujja, whose whereabouts were unknown at year’s end. Unidentified individuals kidnapped DP activist Annette Namwanga in January 2011, and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) acknowledged arresting her. In February 2011 authorities charged her and nine others with terrorism and remanded them to prison. On October 19, Namwanga and the nine terrorist suspects appeared in court. At year’s end they remained free on bail and the case was pending trial. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The constitution and law prohibit such practices. On April 26, parliament passed the Anti-Torture Bill to criminalize torture, which the president approved in June. Any person who commits an act of torture faces up to 15 years imprisonment, a fine of 7.2 million shillings ($2,680), or both. The penalty for aggravated torture is life imprisonment. There were credible reports the SSF tortured and beat suspects. The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and international and local human rights organizations reported incidents of torture by the SSF, including caning, severe beating, and kicking. From January to September, the African Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims registered 170 allegations of torture against police, 214 against the UPDF, one against military police, 23 against the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), 361 against unspecified security personnel, and 24 against prison officials. There were numerous reports of torture and abuse in detention facilities operated by the CMI’s Joint Antiterrorism Taskforce (JATT), and the SIU. For example, on October 4, security officers in Kampala arrested Moses Tumukunde, driver of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, for participating in an unlawful assembly. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor UGANDA 4 Tumukunde claimed the police tortured him with beatings before they released him without charge on October 10. The SSF’s use of excessive force resulted in injuries during arrests and other law enforcement operations. On February 2, a police officer shot and injured Cissy Mukasa, a student at Rainbow College, during a scuffle with residents of Budaka District. Authorities took no action against the officer. On April 20, the SSF assaulted the leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Ingrid Turinawe, as the For God and My Country (4GC) activist group attempted to organize a public rally in Nansana, a Kampala suburb. Turinawe was injured and bedridden for two weeks. Authorities suspended Police Constable Irene Arinda, whom her colleagues identified as responsible for the assault. On November 6, the government officially apologized to Turinawe for police misconduct. A statement released by the prime minister stated Arinda would appear before a police disciplinary court on charges of discreditable conduct and behaving in a cruel, disgraceful, and indecent manner under the Police Act. Hearing of the case was pending at year’s end. There were no further developments in any of the 2011 cases involving excessive use of force by the SSF and the allegations of abduction and torture leveled against the CMI and JATT by a British national. The British national left the country for the United Kingdom, and there were no further reports as to whether he filed a petition against the CMI. In 2011 the UHRC reported awarding 700 million shillings ($261,000) to victims of torture and other abuses. The UHRC reported registering 272 human rights complaints against private individuals, 151 UPDF members, 457 police officers, 45 personnel of other security agencies, 40 prison wardens, and 128 government departments and 19 private companies. Of the complaints, 34 percent involved allegations of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment. As was the case in previous years, mobs attacked persons suspected of stealing, ritual sacrifice, witchcraft, and other crimes, resulting in deaths. Motivated in part by lack of confidence in law enforcement and the judicial system, mobs beat, lynched, burned, and otherwise brutalized their victims (see section 6). Prison and Detention Center Conditions Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor UGANDA 5 Prison conditions remained poor and, in some cases, life threatening. Serious problems included